-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this morning on "early today," the loss of a legend. the music business mourns and remembers whitney houston at last night's grammy awards. greek rage. rioters torch buildings across athens as greece's parliament approves sweeping budget cuts. and winter no-show. the warm winter forces buffalo, of all places, to opt for manmade snow. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with the show going on. with the music world still

reeling after the weekend's tragic death of pop superstar whitney houston, last night at the annual grammy awards, the industry paid tribute to the singer, while not far away the investigation into the cause of her death continued. nbc's jinah kim joins us with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. the befrl hills police department has put a stop on this investigation, meaning we won't get information for weeks, if not months. meanwhile, as you said, some of the biggest names in music made it very clear at the grammy show last night that she will be missed. >> i just want to say to whitney up in heaven, we all love you, whitney houston. >> reporter: music's biggest awards night turned into an impromptu tribute to whitney houston. songs and photos of the six-time grammy winner were featured throughout the night, along with a tender rendition of her most

famous ballad. ♪ and i will >> the passion and how effortless she was. we celebrate that tonight. >> i don't think any of us have come to the full realization of what this means. >> reporter: earlier sunday, the los angeles county coroner told reporters an autopsy had been done, but it's far too early to tell what may have caused the si singer's death. >> i know there was reports she was maybe drowned or did she overdose. we won't make a final determination until all the tests are in. >> reporter: he said it will likely take six to eight weeks before toxicology reports are back. criminal intent, however, appears to be ruled out. meanwhile, houston's daughter was rushed to a hospital earlier sunday morning. sources say she was treated for anxiety. her father, singer bobby brown,

cut short his concert tour in the midwest and arrived in los angeles sunday night. it's six to it eight weeks for the toxicology report, but it could be up to three months before the public hears anything about the cause of death if this is anything like the michael jackson death investigation. lynn, back to you. >> jinah, thanks so much. as for the grammy awards, it was a huge night for the english r&b sensation adele. we'll have much more on that as well as more tributes to withny houston. that's coming up later in the show. first, over the weekend on a campaign trail, mitt romney scored symbolic victories in maine caucuses and an influential straw poll. rival rick santorum charged romney's camp hasn't been playing fair. tracie potts joins us with those details. good morning to you. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. let's start on the campaign trail and that cpac conservative conference over the weekend.

mitt romney beat rick santorum in that straw poll, but santorum seemed to imply that maybe he rigged it. in fact, here's what he said. those straw polls at cpac for years ron paul has won because he trusted a lot of people, paid for their tickets, they come in and vote and leave, referring to romney's win. romney's camp says santorum has a history of making statements not grounded in the truth. moving forward to obama's 2013 budget. the white house says it will reduce our deficit by $4 trillion, but in the immediate future, for next year, we're looking at another $1.3 trillion deficit, an upside down budget again. he wants more spending for education and transportation and more taxes, especially for the rich. lynn. >> all right, tracie potts for us in washington. thanks so much. now here's a look at some other stories making news early

today in america. a northern virginia woman was nearly killed with a powerful wind brought down a 70 foot tree on top of her home. she was sleeping when it crashed through her roof, pinning her to the bed. firefighters worked over an hour to free the woman. unfortunately, inspectors deemed her house uninhabitable. it year's winter continued on its own bizarre course in atlanta. the mercury dipped into single digits. that caused one fountain to be encased in ice, practically. spectators braved the cold to get a glimpse. that' very unusual for atlanta. finally, over 100 people gathered outside city hall in san jose to scuffle and ruffle some feathers. a massive pillow fight broke out as the clock struck noon. organizers spread the word about the flash mob style fray on facebook and twitter. come on. this is the first year of the event, which was inspired by a

similar battle held across the bay in san francisco. good thing it's just a pillow. now for a look at your national and regional weather, look who's back. it's nbc meteorologist bill karins, who was greatly missed. >> sweet of you. >> i know. i'm starting off the week strong. >> was that required in the contract? >> $20. >> a couple cups of coffee. good morning, everyone. amazing pictures this morning.a. remember, it's their summer season. this is a hailstorm. it's not sleet or snow. this is aerial pictures of what the ground looks like. literally covered. there's people shoveling their roofs. very impressive hailstorm by anyone's standards, even by midwest standards. as far as our weather on the west goes, as we go throughout the monday morning, light rain has moved into california. it's a weak storm system. there are high winds expected in the mountainous areas in central california. we are getting a little snow in the highest levels of the central sierra. dying front in washington state has been bringing light rain. storm system will move slowly

difficulting through the state of california over the next two days. that's why we have showers in the forecast for l.a. today, tonight, and into tomorrow. you can see the steadiest rains on the coast north of san francisco. the bay, just some showers for you. we get the enhancement here. mountains are expecting a couple inches of snow. not a lot. also, washington state, i mentioned a weak frontal system here. very light rainfall amounts throughout the day today. it will improve this afternoon. it's damp in many areas with a chance of showers. we won't see heavy rain in any location. effere eventually, these will move into the vegas area. that's a look at you no heavy rain or flooding. we'll take whatever we can get. it's been a dry winter.

so damp weather gets replaced by nice conditions by the end of the week. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. well, greece votes for cuts, gas guzzles higher, and what men are buying for valentine's day. plus, the big grammy winner, and why she says she'll stop singing sad songs. everything goes right for lefty, another game winner for kobe, and motown history on grammy night. you're watching "early today." a

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. more than 100,000 protesters fought with greek riot police in athens after parliament passed an austerity bill to avoid bankruptcy. at least 45 buildings were set on fire, scores of officers and demonstrators were injured, and at least 45 rioters were arrested. arab league foreign ministers sunday asked the

united nations security council to send a peacekeeping team to syria, and as the violent syrian government crackdown against protesters continued, al qaeda leader ayman al zawahiri called on followers to oppose president bashir al assad. crews are finally pumping some 500,000 gallons of fuel out of the cruise ship that ran aground nearly a month ago off the coast of italy. the president of italy and other officials attended sunday's service for victims of the accident. in venezuela henrique capriles, a 39-year-old state governor, has won a primary to run against president hugo chavez in an election set for october 7th. and in southern chile, hundreds were seeing red. they were smashing and throwing over 30 tons of tomatoes at each other in a massive food fight that is intended to promote the local crop. and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opened at 12,801 after falling 89 points on friday. the s&p lost 9 points. the nasdaq fell 23.

taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei gained 52 points, while in hong kong the hang seng was up 103. well, investors may react to the battle over greek debt. the unpopular austerity bill passed by the greek parliament was a requirement for a second bailout from eurozone nations to get the money by march 20th to avoid default. japan's economy shrank between october and december by 0.6% which was larger than expected. samsung is being sued by apple, which wants a federal court to block sales of the new galaxy nexus smartphones because of alleged patent violations. >> the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the united states is up almost 12 cents in the past three weeks to an average of $3.51. federal prosecutors have presented evidence to a grand jury against cosmetics company avon products looking into charges company executives broke foreign bribery laws. five staffers at the royal

bank of scotland were arrested in an investigation into alleged tax fraud involving their personal finances. rupert murdoch says he will not close down his best-selling newspaper "the sun" after five employees were arrested for allegedly paying bribes to police and other officials. boeing says the problem with the fuselage of a new dreamliner is being fixed and will not slow down production. and for valentine's day, a survey says most men who buy flowers give them to their wife or a significant other. only a third buy them for their mothers. and on valentine's day spending on chocolates and gifts is expected to hit more than $125 per person this year. on average men spend twice as much as women. well, coming up, kobe wins it for the lakers, and the celtics bounce back. plus, the red wings chase an nhl record. and one more. sinking a few long putts like this one rallied lefty to the head of the pack. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead.

and it's a winter monday morning, but the rest of the week looks like spring. your forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." and in sports, having played bridesmaid to tiger woods so many times in the past, phil

mickelson's victory this weekend at pebble beach was extra sweet. here's nbc's mario solis with an early look at all your sports headlines. hi, there. good morning. with all eyes on tiger woods, phil mickelson rallied from six shots down to win pebble beach. that's because mickelson came out in attack mode. making difficult putt after difficult putt. for an eagle on 6, drains it. that moves him to 14 under par and a two-shot lead. tiger struggled all day, five bogeys, but had a lone bright spot on 12. out of the bunker, holes it for a birdie. he would finish, tied for 15th. as for mickelson, he had an answer for tiger on 12. how about a 35-footer to save par? no doubt about it, everything going right for lefty. mickelson takes pebble beach for his 40th pga win. nba lakers wrapping up their season-long grammy trip with a win in toronto. down one with under ten seconds to play, and that's kobe time. the black mama striking from the baseline gives l.a. the lead with four seconds left. lakers hold on to win, 94-92. to boston, derrick rose sat

out his second straight game, and the bulls could have used him against the celts. rajon rondo was ready to go from the opening tip. between the legs to chris wilcox he had 15 helpers, and rondo can also score. slicing through the defense for two of his game-high 32, the clinic added ten rebounds to complete the triple-double. celtics tame the bulls, 95-91. don't adjust your tv sets. those are the throwback jerseys for memphis, and, yep, they're pretty grisly. they say when you look good, you feel good, and that's probably why the grizzlies lost to the jazz, 98 to 88. and, finally, the red wings are rich with history, but the franchise has never done this. detroit beat the flyers to tie an nhl record with 20 straight wins at home. the mark was set back in 1930 by boston, then matched in '76 by philly. johan franzen scores the go-ahead goal in the third. red wings win, 4-3. they can break their record tomorrow night against dallas. and that's your look at sports on "early today." i'm mario solis.

paying tribute to whitney houston, and the grammy's big winners. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, there's no greater sign of just how strange the winter has been than a snow shortage in buffalo. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this monday morning.

forecast-wise, grab the umbrella in many areas. very light rain. not a lot. it's a showery type weather in it much of california today. up in the northwest, portland's not too bad. definitely getting light rain around seattle. it eventually will push into areas like vegas. salt lake city, you'll have to wait until later today. we start to push it out as it goes into the desert southwest. if you're watching on kn knsd nbc san diego, california, see the classic choice for california beach transportation along the coast at woodies at the san diego automotive museum. that's your pacific event of the day. in college, i had a station wagon with the wood panelling. >> did you? >> i did. very proud. >> we did growing up as well too. that was a classic around that time period. thank you so much. well, now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. there's no doubt the music industry and their night was darkened by the death of whitney houston, but the show definitely did go on.

saying we've had a death in our family, host ll cool j led the audience in a prayer for houston. later accompanied only by piano, jennifer hudson sang houston's trademark hit "i will always love you." she received a standing ovation. as for the awards themselves, the foo fighters won five grammys for rock. another singer, the late amy winehouse, won with tony bennett for best pop duo. last year's it girl taylor swift was a big country winner. she took two awards. but this year the night belonged to 23-year-old english soul singer adele. she matched beyonce for most grammy wins by a woman in a single night with six, including album, record, and song of the year. ironically, though, given the success of her ballads about break-ups and heartache, in the upcoming "vogue" magazine, adele said that she's done with those kinds of songs. she says people always expect her to be a miserable person, she as has a -- she has a new

guy in her life. >> it was like eight months ago i claimed adele for myself. >> oh, before everybody else did? >> yes. >> actually, everybody else did a year and a half ago, but that's fine. >> that's when i found out. >> welcome. and this comes from wgrz channel 2 in bouffalo, new york where saving the city's annual celebration called for desperate measures. this year's bizarre winter forced america's snow capital to buy snow. snow-making machines were brought in to blanket streets with 15 tons of snow one day before winterfest. usually winter batters this city. this year's temperatures seem more artificial than the fake snow. that's an understatement there. i'm lynn berry. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

an angel soars above the city of venice as celebrators kick off carnival. thousands gathered in st. mark's square to celebrate the flight of the angel. spectators dressed in costumes and colorful masks, they stood by as the angel descended from the bell tower of the basilica. it's a festival that dates back to the 16th century as a time for feasting and fun. well, even non-humans need a little hot tub therapy every once in a while. in japan where there's been an unusually harsh winter, wild snow monkeys bathe in hot springs that reach 105 degrees. the primates usually enjoy a morning dip before returning to the forest in the afternoon, observing tourists are cautioned

not to feed or touch the monkeys and to keep their voices down. so what do you get for your the man that has everything? well, the big boys' toy exhibit can help. in dubai the latest in ultra luxury was unveiled from flashy cars to diamond-studded accessories. phones alone went up to $26,000. expecting a clientele with luxurious taste and high disposable income, companies look forward to a great turnout. i bet they do. i bet they do. >> wait! guys want diamond-encrusted things? >> you never know. >> like my weather remote could be diamond encrusted? >> i will bejewel it for you with cz. it's so much cheaper. it's time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll look at throughout the day here on nbc. washington's governor will sign the newly passed legislation legalizing gay marriage. the bill was approved by the state house last wednesday and will become law in early june. the story of a deadly honeymoon continues as an

alabama man accused of murdering his wife during a scuba dive goes on trial, suspected of killing her for insurance money. he's already served time in australia, their honeymoon destination, after having pled guilty to a lesser charge. and in new york the 136th annual westminster kennel club dog show begins. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments on those stories and more as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's what's comg in later this morning on the "today" show. academy award winner reese witherspoon stops by to talk about her first action movie, "this means war," and singer katharine mcphee sits down live to talk about her role in the new hit series "smash." and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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